Description: A comparison of Cold War era spies in a Hollywood vs. Reality context and the early film series’ effects on culture and public attitude toward Soviet-American relations throughout the 1960’s and 70’s. Written by Ian Fleming, British author, journalist and Second World War Navy Commander who was the originator of the 14 007-Bond books that would later be translated into film.
Question: Should I focus on several James Bond films released throughout the 1960s and 70s or solely on From Russia with Love, released in 1963?
Evidence: Ian Fleming left a legacy as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, greatly contributing to popular literature and post-war Western culture. Unaccompanied, Fleming transformed popular detective and spy fiction from the “dark, middle-class heroes of” espionage authors such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler to his own elegant world seen through the eyes of secret agent 007, James Bond. (http://www.klast.net/bond/flem_leg.html) However, Frederick Hitz ”points out that Bond, like Clancy's Jack Ryan, is mostly fantasy. http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/00/0110/p/espionage.shtml” The Imperial War Museum’s Ian Fleming exhibition portrays the life and work of the “Bond creator and even delves into the murky world of cold war espionage to show that true stories about spying can sometimes be more exciting that fiction. [The] museum spy trails use the insight of someone who really was involved in intelligence matters. http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/trlout_gfx_en/TRA14007.html” Nevertheless, “From the first appearance of James Bond in a 1954 CBS television production of Casino Royale, Bond films were intimately connected to, and continuously suggestive of, the larger Cold War context in which they were created.” Mulvihill, Jason. "James Bond's Cold War Part I" Journal of Instructional Media, Vol. 28, (2001)
Purpose: To separate the myth from the reality aspect of espionage in the early James Bond films and to account for the effect the former had on public perception of Soviet-American relations and the Cold War on a larger global scheme.
Audience: Espionage, Cold War, and James Bond enthusiasts as well as film critics and the general public.
Use of Source: To educate the general public on the differences between the aesthetic perception and the actuality of Cold War espionage and to dissolve the veil between the scandalous lifestyle of the James Bond character in his films and the dangerous lifestyles of real Cold War spies. To reveal the false perceptions the James Bond films created, to account for the similarities between the real and the not-so-real, and to discuss how Hollywood’s films contributed to the American public’s perception of the Soviet Union and how the films were used as a tool for boosting American morale.
Motivation: Being a first-generation Russian myself, I take great interest in the study of both Russian and American cultures and their relations with one another throughout the past century. As a great James Bond and, in particular, Sean Connery enthusiast, I find this topic very interesting and something I’d put a lot of time and effort into.
Question: Should I focus on several James Bond films released throughout the 1960s and 70s or solely on From Russia with Love, released in 1963?
Evidence: Ian Fleming left a legacy as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, greatly contributing to popular literature and post-war Western culture. Unaccompanied, Fleming transformed popular detective and spy fiction from the “dark, middle-class heroes of” espionage authors such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler to his own elegant world seen through the eyes of secret agent 007, James Bond. (http://www.klast.net/bond/flem_leg.html) However, Frederick Hitz ”points out that Bond, like Clancy's Jack Ryan, is mostly fantasy. http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/00/0110/p/espionage.shtml” The Imperial War Museum’s Ian Fleming exhibition portrays the life and work of the “Bond creator and even delves into the murky world of cold war espionage to show that true stories about spying can sometimes be more exciting that fiction. [The] museum spy trails use the insight of someone who really was involved in intelligence matters. http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/trlout_gfx_en/TRA14007.html” Nevertheless, “From the first appearance of James Bond in a 1954 CBS television production of Casino Royale, Bond films were intimately connected to, and continuously suggestive of, the larger Cold War context in which they were created.” Mulvihill, Jason. "James Bond's Cold War Part I" Journal of Instructional Media, Vol. 28, (2001)
Purpose: To separate the myth from the reality aspect of espionage in the early James Bond films and to account for the effect the former had on public perception of Soviet-American relations and the Cold War on a larger global scheme.
Audience: Espionage, Cold War, and James Bond enthusiasts as well as film critics and the general public.
Use of Source: To educate the general public on the differences between the aesthetic perception and the actuality of Cold War espionage and to dissolve the veil between the scandalous lifestyle of the James Bond character in his films and the dangerous lifestyles of real Cold War spies. To reveal the false perceptions the James Bond films created, to account for the similarities between the real and the not-so-real, and to discuss how Hollywood’s films contributed to the American public’s perception of the Soviet Union and how the films were used as a tool for boosting American morale.
Motivation: Being a first-generation Russian myself, I take great interest in the study of both Russian and American cultures and their relations with one another throughout the past century. As a great James Bond and, in particular, Sean Connery enthusiast, I find this topic very interesting and something I’d put a lot of time and effort into.
1 comment:
this topic is immediately fascinating--it involves some really intriguing issues and so i immediately think it would help to focus on the one film, from russia with love, and then you can see how it goes, refer to other things as necessary, etc. the premise you propose is really great, that the films need to be looked at for the realities they describe in spy-life. it would be interesting to ask what accounts for treating such films more mythically? or fantastically? and what is the harm in doing so?
Post a Comment